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I recently got an old 15 gallon aquarium from my grandparents for my little 1 inch turtle. The thing is it has about a inch of dust covering the whole thing. How can I clean this without hurting my turtle in the long run?

I'd rinse it well, then use a mix of vinegar and water to remove any spots. Water on it's own doesn't remove dust very well. Rinse it well until the vinegar smell is gone.

I can relate to this---I've purchased (yet another) used 10 gallon tank that I'm going to have to clean. If there's a lot of dust on it, I'd stick it in the shower and give it a good rinse so I can see if there's any crud on it. If there is, I'd fill it with warm water and let it soak to see if any of the crud softens; you can use white vinegar to help clean it, as Jenaero said and rinse repeatedly.

If, for some reason, you think it should be disinfected, skip the vinegar and use a diluted solution of bleach and water to go over it. I use 2 oz. of bleach to a gallon of water. Rinse very, very well with running water. I usually wind up filling the tank with water even after I've rinsed just for good measure. If you can, let the tank air dry for a day or at least overnight.

I just picked up a white plastic aquarium "sponge" for scrubbing algae from my plastic betta tank & it works really well. It was only a buck or two at the aquarium store & works much better than using a toothbrush (which is what I always used before) & won't scratch your tank! Keep one of these handy...they are reusable.